Chelsea are ramping up their transfer activity ahead of the Premier League campaign starting next week, with Axel Disasi becoming Mauricio Pochettino’s sixth summer arrival.

There will surely be more to arrive before the transfer window shuts as the Blues have now shown interest in Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Leandro Paredes.

Could Chelsea sign Leandro Paredes?

According to The Evening Standard, Chelsea are interested in making a move for Paredes as Pochettino looks to bolster his midfield options.

Having lost the likes of Mason Mount, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, N’Golo Kante, and Mateo Kovacic this summer in order to streamline the squad, the Stamford Bridge outfit are lightweight in this area of the pitch.

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The pursuit of Moises Caicedo is stalling due to Brighton and Hove Albion valuing their prized asset at £100m, with Chelsea having a bid of £80m rejected by the South Coast side, and it remains to be seen whether they will go back in for him.

The £150k-per-week Argentinian could thus be an ideal alternative to the 21-year-old, especially as he enters the final year of his contract and could be available for a knockdown fee.

Will Leandro Paredes be a good fit for Chelsea?

The PSG ace has enjoyed a nomadic career of sorts, turning out for AS Roma, Boca Juniors, Zenit St. Petersburg, Juventus, although it is with the French giants that he has played the most games for a club, featuring 117 times during his five seasons in Paris.

With Kante and Kovacic departing the club, Pochettino is urgently requiring a player who could partner Enzo Fernandez in the heart of the midfield, and Paredes would certainly be a good fit.

He wasn't exactly the most productive during a loan spell at Juventus last season, making just eight league starts all campaign but he still ranked sixth in the squad for key passes per game (0.9) and held a pass completion success rate of 91%, which was the highest in the squad.

In the Chelsea squad, no player had a higher pass success rate than Paredes, and it shows that even though he had limited game time, he could still dictate play when given an opportunity.

He is even statistically similar to Kovacic and thus could slot straight into the Chelsea starting XI with ease. The Croatian recently departed Stamford Bridge after five years in London to join Manchester City.

According to FBref, Kovacic is the ninth-most comparable player to the PSG midfielder and given that the former Real Madrid ace has won four Champions League crowns, alongside gaining nearly 100 caps for his country, it isn’t a bad comparison to have.

The duo registered similar statistics across a wide range of metrics such as shots per 90 (1.4 v 1.21), goal contributions (three v two), pass success rate (88.3% v 85.7%) and tackles won (14 v 24).

This clearly suggests they both control the game effectively due to their passing ability, while the pair also attempt to win the ball back often and there is no doubt Paredes could replace Kovacic in the Chelsea midfield.

Lauded as “perfect” by former PSG player Fabrice Pancrate, the World Cup winner could be an interesting addition to the squad ahead of 2023/24.